Meanwhile, Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York has been bowing to the demands of radical environmentalists
who want a moratorium on natural gas fracking. Upstate New York is an
economic wasteland, and Buffalo is one of the nation's poorest cities. A
study last year from the Manhattan Institute found that hydraulic
fracking could be a boon to the state, creating more than $11 billion in
economic output and more than 15,000 jobs by 2020.

Cuomo did this all the while sitting on a study showing fracking to be environmentally safe. John Steele Gordon adds telling detail on Cuomo's calculations favoring his re-election in a solidly blue state. Yet the son of former NY Gov. Mario Cuomo found time to give a $226 million subsidy to the ... Buffalo Bills, that the NFL team agree to stay in the Empire State. AC called it "a top priority" of his administration, reports JR.

Meanwhile, energy expert Mark Mills informs us that California is the next potential fracking powerhouse, with potentially $1 trillion in economic benefits to be unlocked. Sacramento is casting a gimlet eye in that direction. Alternatives to hydro-fracking are emerging, which avoid the toxic politics of water versus shale oil. That use of water to extract oil & gas is less than one percent of agricultural water use is politically irrelevant. Media focus on the water issue makes transition desirable.

Energy policy is tied to global warming--oops!, now "climate change"--yet while warmists shout & stamp their feet when the thermometer rises above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, they have been strangely (well, not so strangely) silent during China's coldest winter in decades. And the media flurry over 2012's warm temperatures ignores many cold years in between 2012 & super-hot 1998.